We discovered the secondthoughters, those tiny beings infesting our minds; we found them hiding in our greymatter creases, giving us second thoughts about everything we do, whispering and criticizing and shaming us. So we excised them, scalpel’d our minds clean of these beings who never gave us any peace. Then we had pure sensation, act without regret. No more guilt, not any more. How could that have gone so wrong? <END> Buy it at amazon.com/author/terencekuch: For Anacreon, 30 poems … [Read more...]
“My Friends” / Memorable Fancies #1256
10 July, 2015 by Leave a Comment
[“He was racked with guilt every time he disappointed other people’s expectations.” – Simon Leys] Worst were the friends who would never state their expectations of him until it was too late, until he hadn’t fulfilled them. Then they would smile in that thin straight-lipped way they used just for him. <END> [The writer, reading at One More Page books, Arlington, Virginia:] … [Read more...]
“Happened” / Memorable Fancies #1098
29 January, 2015 by Leave a Comment
[“I was / unable to sustain ignorance” – Louise Glück] I tried very hard not to know what had happened. I never spoke of it, and when I heard others mention it, I shook my head and told them it was a rumor, an urban legend, perhaps just someone’s bad dream. I tried very hard not to know what happened, what I did. <END> My novel of political intrigue, Try Try Again, has just been published by Cartwright Publications and is available on Amazon. … [Read more...]
“Quandary” / Memorable Fancies #589
24 January, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I wait in my room but no one comes to arrest me. I wonder why? How long will I be looking over my shoulder? Anyway, what I did was done. Should I send flowers? <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or in StumbleUpon, Reddit, Facebook, or other social websites. Subscriptions to this blog are available at www.amazon.com/author/terencekuch or at www.bit.ly/Fancies. – or you can just Follow this blog. You can also buy one or … [Read more...]
“Innocent” / A Memorable Fancy #395
10 July, 2013 by Leave a Comment
“It was an accident, officer.” That’s what I told them. “It was an accident that he died. You have to believe me; I’m innocent.” I wait in my room for them to come back, to arrest me, to tell me it couldn’t possibly have been an accident, now that their experts have examined the body, now that the weapon has been found, and the threatening emails, and so on. But they never come. Week after week they never come. I can’t stop staring at the door. <END> If you liked … [Read more...]
“Ceremony of Truth” / A Memorable Fancy #337
10 May, 2013 by 1 Comment
In my country we are very solicitous of our shadows. We aim to ensure their welfare and comfort at all times. We are careful, for example, not to stand where they would lie too long on ice or rocky ground. If through some unintentional slight our shadows become annoyed, they find embarrassing times to leap out in front of us, mime our shameful secret acts in front of friends or the police. There are elaborate ceremonies by which we mollify our shadows, plead for them once again to … [Read more...]
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